Falling For Portugal: A Mai Tai Tom “Trip” Report

Chapter Thirteen: Combing Coimbra

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We heard footsteps on the staircase at 8 a.m., which could only mean one thing: breakfast was served. Inside the basket that our hotel personnel braved life and limb scrambling up the steep stairs to deliver were hot scrambled eggs, rolls, cheese, cold cuts, baked pears, cereal and yogurt. With so much food, I asked Tracy if we were having guests over.

Meanwhile, Mary thought she could help out by going down to retrieve her basket. Unfortunately, her motto of “that first step is a doozy” came back to haunt her. She took a misstep and nearly tumbled down the flight of stairs, only to be saved by grabbing the rail at the last moment (re-enactment).

Tragedy averted and stomachs full, it was time to go to college. I had reserved a 10 a.m. tour of the Universidade de Coimbra, which also includes a visit to its big ticket item of the 18th century Joanine Library. On a rainy Thursday morning we entered a courtyard called Pátio das Escolas dominated by the gigantic statue of King João III. The university which was established in Lisbon in 1290, moved back and forth between Lisbon and Coimbra several times and finally João III re-established it here in 1537. The campus is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. I could almost hear Jimmy Dean belting out, “Big King John!”

We found the spot where the tour was supposed to meet and everything seemed fine, except for the fact there was no tour guide although a crowd was gathering. Finally someone opened the door and waved us into a room with books (that was not the Joanine Library).

Perplexed, we walked in (after showing our letter from the university stating the four of us were allowed to be here), and a few minutes later we were led upstairs to the Joanine Library, where we were allotted ten minutes to view the dazzling display of 40,000 or so ancient books and manuscripts the library contains. There were strict orders of “No photos” and we could see a couple of people giving everyone the eagle eye (the two photos of the library are from the internet).

The library was constructed on the orders of King João V in 1720 (finished in 1728) on top of the ruins of a medieval royal prison. The painting in the photo below is of the king on what is called The Noble Floor. I had read that the library would be the last stop on our “tour,” so I figured we were on our own, which was actually fine with us as long as our papers of transit could get us in to all the places the tour was supposed to go (it did). We were told that this library (along with the one at Mafra Palace) are the only two libraries in the world that have bat colonies to keep pesky pests from eating the pages. Whether that’s true or not, I’m not sure, but it was kinda neat to hear about these bats in the biblioteca. They’ve been hanging out here for more than two centuries keeping these books safe.

After our ten minutes in the library we were back outside the Manueline Portal of Capela de São Miguel (St. Michael’s Chapel).

In we went, and where happy to learn we could take photos here.

The chapel dates back to the 16th century.

It was pretty small, but the 18th-century organ (still operational) that has 2,000 pipes is not. The trumpeting angels on top are a nice touch.

The ceiling (you knew we couldn’t forget that) is from the 17th century.

It was renovated and furnished with a more up-to-date coat of arms.

That was it for the chapel, so now we were really on our own. We had no clue where our tour guide vanished to, but it really didn’t make difference.

I read on my ticket that we were allowed entry to the Royal Palace, which happens to be Portugal’s oldest palace, built near the end of the 10th century. In the 12th century it was the home of Alfonso Henriques, who was the first king of Portugal. As a matter of fact, all the Kings of the Portuguese first Dynasty lived here, a period spanning 240 years. The palace was not hard to find.

Entering the Hall of Arms, I expected to see a bunch of limbs, but it actually is the armory.

We ducked into an area adjacent to the Hall of Arms. I could only ascertain that this called The Yellow Room. Portraits on the yellow silk wall are of 19th-century rectors.

Next up was the The Great Hall of Acts, which at one one time was the Throne Room of the Royal Palace in the Citadel. There are large canvases with the kings of Portugal on the walls. Various ceremonies are held here, including doctoral theses.

The intricately designed ceiling panes were created in the 17th century.

Tracy said, “Let’s go to the Private Examination Room.” “I’m not even sick,” I replied, not knowing that this was once the king’s quarters, but is now where graduates of the university take their examinations. The colorful ceiling is from 1701. Kim caught Tracy in the act.

She was able to zoom in on the Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Portugal …

… and “representations of the former great Faculties at the University of Coimbra.” This one, featuring a swan and the staff of Hermes, represents medicine.

Back outside we checked out King João III’s humongous statue up close. Something I learned while there was that Coimbra is known as the “Athens of Portugal,” due to its culture and heritage, and the fact that it is the birthplace of six Portugal monarchs. I should have studied this much at my own college.

Our next goal was to find something called the Cabinet of Curiosities. Curious as to where it was located, we asked a few people for directions but received no definitive answer (we could have used a tour guide at this moment). We wandered and wandered and instead of the Cabinet, we stumbled upon the nearby Sé Nova (New Cathedral of Coimbra). “New” being a relative term because the church was built in the 1500s, later becoming Coimbra’s New Cathedral.

The gold altarpieces were added in the 1700s.